History
General history issues, although a lot will be about WW2
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On December 7,1941, 80 years ago today, a hurried dispatch from the ranking United States naval officer in Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel, Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, was sent to all major navy commands and fleet units provided the first official word of the attack at the ill-prepared Pearl…
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I remember the celebration in 2016 when Ireland was commemorating the centenary of the Easter Rising. There had already been events months beforehand. On 20 January 2016. Ireland’s first ever commemorative €2 coin went into circulation to mark the centenary year of the Easter Rising. The Easter Rising , was an armed insurrection in Ireland…
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Silvain Wolf was just a footnote in history. But his story is an important one to tell. He was born on October 7,1902 in Beek, a small town in the province of Limburg, in the South East of the Netherlands. In 1930 he moved to nearby Sittard, where he got a job with his uncle…
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George Okker would have celebrated his 101st birthday on November 14,2022 . Although turning 101 is not that common, it is not that uncommon either. However poor George Okker didn’t even reach his 20th birthday. There is quite a bit of data on George but strangely enough no photographs. The only pit of picture I…
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Like Anne Frank ,Etty (Esther) Hillesum, also kept a diary during World War 2,describing her experiences of the Holocaust. She was born in the city of Middelburg in the southwest of the Netherlands, on January 15,1914. She was the daughter of Levie Hillesum and Riva Bernstein. In 1932 she moved to Amsterdam to study law…
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It is strange sometimes how one thing can draw your attention to another. I did a piece recently on the German national anthem, that led me to look at the Dutch national anthem. “Wilhelmus van Nassouwe”, usually known just as “Wilhelmus” is the national anthem of the Netherlands. It dates back to at least 1572,…
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Originally posted on History of Sorts: Günther Ernst Aronade was born on March 19, 1918 Kattowitz, Germany, now Poland. I am not sure on the exact date but it looks liked Günther and his wife Alisa (Ilse) Heymann moved to Amsterdam in 1938, I can only imagine because of the Nazi regime in Germany. In…
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Originally posted on History of Sorts: The one subject I find difficult to address is how the Dutch treated the Jews during the war. It is easy for me to say they didn’t do enough to help their Jewish neighbours, because that would be true. However I did not live in that time. I did…
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One of the weapons during World War II was propaganda—a powerful tool. The armies did not have to be persuaded to go to war, it was their job to follow the orders of their respective governments. However, propaganda was used to persuade civilians of the merits of war. This was done by all sides. World…
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Originally posted on History of Sorts: On March 6,1964 Cassius Clay announced that he no longer would be known as Cassius Clay but as Muhammad Ali. Clay had been linked to the Nation of Islam, although they initially had refused him entry as a member due to his boxing career. However when Clay beat Joe…
History of Sorts 